CEDAR CITY — Democrat Bill Orton took away Gov. Mike Leavitt's hometown advantage with well-timed attacks on his opponent's record during a debate at Southern Utah University.
The two candidates chatted and laughed prior to Tuesday's debate, but Leavitt quickly put on a game face when the questions started flying. Orton appeared relaxed, as if he were playing on his home field. Orton kept Leavitt, a Cedar City native and SUU alum, on the defensive for much of the hourlong exchange, though the Republican governor pulled off some good plays of his own.
The SUU Center for Politics and Public Service sponsored the event, the only gubernatorial debate not held on the Wasatch Front. Several hundred people, including many college and high school students and senior citizens, filled the campus auditorium. The format allowed the audience to submit written questions that moderator Harry Brown, a local radio talk-show host, screened before reading to the candidates.
Orton's game plan seemed to consist of posing rhetorical questions to the crowd after Leavitt statements that he found dubious or using his response time to ask Leavitt direct questions. The strategy seemed to work, though not every time.
In response to a query on taxing Internet sales, Orton said a mechanism called the use tax already exists in Utah. It requires residents to account for local sales tax on catalog, online and out-of-state purchases on their income tax returns.
"You're in charge of the state and the Tax Commission. What have you done to enforce it?" Orton asked Leavitt.
"What Mr. Orton is suggesting is a tax Gestapo that goes out and asks if you made any purchases from a catalog or over the Internet," Leavitt replied.
Southern Utah residents naturally wanted to know how the two candidates intended to boost rural economies.
Leavitt said Utahns are better off now than they were in 1992 when he was elected, and rural Utahns particularly have benefited from an increase of 55,000 jobs over that time, though they make up only 12 percent of the state's population,
He cited SUU's Center for Rural Life and his 21st Century Communities program, which have formed templates that many small cities have adopted to deal with issues such as planning and zoning and transportation. "We're making progress," he said, adding rural incomes are up 67 percent the past eight years.
Orton quickly polled the audience.
"How many of you had incomes go up 60 percent?" he asked. Many in the crowd snickered at the suggestion. Orton went on to say that if their incomes did go up that much, it was probably because they had to hold down two or three jobs.
The candidates also were asked their thoughts on gun control.
Orton painted himself as a strong advocate for Second Amendment rights. While in Congress, he said, the National Rifle Association gave him a 100 percent voting grade on gun issues. Guns don't belong in schools and churches, nor should they be brought into businesses or homes if the owners don't want them there, he said. Orton also said he opposes the regulation and licensing on all types of firearms, including handguns.
"It does nothing to lower crime. It does nothing to lower violence," he said.
Leavitt noted his own NRA endorsement but instead of explaining his position on guns, he just said there's not a wide difference in views between himself and Orton.
Orton pounced on that opening during his closing statement. He criticized Leavitt for not boldly speaking out on a failed initiative to ban guns in schools and churches. And there, he said, lies the difference between himself and Leavitt.
"I would be out explaining to people why it's a good idea and push through the legislation," Orton said.
Orton, who had the last word in the debate, also dinged the governor by holding up an old newsletter in which Leavitt vowed to serve only two terms. Orton promises to serve only one term if elected.
Prior to taking Orton's parting shots with no chance for rebuttal, Leavitt used most of his final two minutes to tout not himself but GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush.
"I simply want to put in a good word for my friend George Bush," he said. "The man needs to be the president of the United States."
Leavitt was perturbed after the debate that he didn't get the chance to refute Orton's final comments. He said he championed the legislation that limits the governor to three four-year terms. Because the law was passed in Leavitt's first term, he could serve a maximum of two more terms.
E-MAIL: romboy@desnews.com